Chapter Twelve: The Great Explosion
The boss collapsed, and everyone leveled up. Even Wind and Cloud Under Heaven, who was originally level five, advanced to level six.
World Channel
Warlord Li Jing: “Brother Under Heaven, how did you do it? Teach me your strategy, will you? Grinding little monsters all morning is driving me crazy. I want to try the Boar King for some fun too.”
Wind and Cloud Under Heaven: “Bro, it was pure luck. Really, don’t try it. That boss is vicious.”
The two big shots exchanged just a single message each on the world channel, and naturally, there wouldn’t be a second one. In the new world, the rules stated that the first message on the world channel within an hour cost one gold coin, and the second message would cost ten. One gold coin could still be earned in the newbie village, but as for ten, good luck gathering that much in the whole village.
“Quick, let’s see what loot dropped. I think I saw an orange glow just now. Couldn’t have been my eyes playing tricks—I’m not color-blind!” Thousand Mile Lone Rider shouted impatiently.
Wind Chimes in the Breeze opened the party inventory: five pieces of equipment, one material, and one skill book—a fantastic haul.
“We’re rich! Three orange items! No one’s taking that axe from me, it’s mine, all mine!” The first item was an orange battle axe. Thousand Mile Lone Rider was ecstatic. Orange gear was the highest tier a player could realistically obtain.
The Boar King was truly generous, perhaps due to being a first kill. The boss also dropped five gold coins, one for each of them.
Wind Chimes in the Breeze didn’t even check the stats and assigned the axe to Thousand Mile Lone Rider right away.
Thousand Mile Lone Rider swapped out his newbie axe and posted the stats of his new orange axe in the party chat.
Finely Crafted Tusk Battle Axe (Orange): Physical attack 87-103, Strength +20, Special effect: Heavy Strike, Equipment level 5. Durability 30/30. Heavy Strike: Each attack has a chance to trigger Heavy Strike, dealing five times damage. Trigger chance: 1%.
“Haha, my attack power’s now over 150. These little boars can’t take more than a few hits from me!” Thousand Mile Lone Rider boasted.
“That’s some incredible gear. My own level-five green staff only has a bit over twenty attack and just three bonus stats. And that Heavy Strike effect is amazing—if it triggers in PvP, it’s an instant kill. Most players will use a weapon like this until level 20,” even Wind and Cloud Under Heaven admitted enviously.
“Check the rest! I saw a shield, and it’s orange too!” Wind and Cloud Secretary was just as excited. As a Guardian Warrior, he badly needed a good shield. Without one, tanking monsters was a nightmare—what’s a Guardian Warrior without a shield?
Seeing everyone’s excitement, Wind Chimes in the Breeze revealed the rest of the loot.
Finely Crafted Boar King’s Shield (Orange): Defense 55, HP 500, Strength 10, Special effect: Unmoveable Mountain, Equipment level 5, Durability 30/30. Unmoveable Mountain: The bearer cannot be knocked back.
Finely Crafted Linen Robe (Orange): Defense 20, HP 100, MP 200, Intelligence 20, Special effect: Magical Surge, Equipment level 5. Magical Surge: +5 magic regeneration speed. Equipment type: Cloth.
Elven Leather Boots (Purple): Movement speed +2, Defense 5, Agility 8, Equipment level 5, Durability 20/20.
Iron Guts Bow (Purple): Physical attack 51-59, Agility 10, Equipment level 5, Durability 20/20.
Lightning Summon: Channels a bolt of lightning at the target, dealing 15 damage. Cooldown: three seconds. Class: Taoist.
Tusk (Red material).
Everything laid out, it was all top-notch. Even if the tusk’s use was unknown, its red rarity made its value obvious—red was a tier above orange.
The shield was self-explanatory: 500 HP was more than any player currently had, plus extra strength and a special effect. The robe was also exceptionally strong. In short, orange items were never trash.
The other three items were less impressive but still quite good.
Before Wind Chimes in the Breeze began distributing loot, Wind and Cloud Under Heaven spoke, “Here’s the plan: the shield goes to Secretary, the robe to me, the boots to Six-Barrel Bodhisattva, the bow can be sold or traded for what we need—let Secretary handle that. Lightning Summon goes to Breeze, since she’s the only one who can use it. The material also goes to me, and I’ll compensate Six-Barrel and Breeze with 10,000 Blue Coins each.”
Although Zhang Shan only got a pair of boots, the other items weren’t suitable for him, and the extra 10,000 Blue Coins as compensation left him feeling a little embarrassed.
He replied, “No need for the compensation. Without you guys, the three of us couldn’t have beaten the boss. If it dragged on, others would’ve found it and we would’ve lost our chance.”
“I only deal with cause and effect, not what-ifs. You found the boss and held it in place—without those two things, the rest is meaningless. So compensation is fair. That’s the tradition in our guild: the more you contribute, the more you earn; those who contribute less but want gear must pay compensation. That’s what’s fair and sustainable,” Wind and Cloud Under Heaven explained.
“It’s fine, we deserve it. The boss didn’t drop anything I could use anyway, though I did get another Taoist skill book. Now I have three skills but not enough points to use them all!” Wind Chimes in the Breeze chimed in.
“Don’t remind me, I only have one skill and it’s passive. My mana’s just for show,” Zhang Shan complained about the Gunslinger’s starting skill. Then he remembered: didn’t the system just notify him about gaining a skill?
He checked his skills.
Heavy Strike (Passive), Level 1 (Talent-acquired, cannot be upgraded), each attack has a chance to trigger Heavy Strike, dealing five times damage. Trigger chance: 1%.
He burst out laughing. His talent had finally paid off! He never expected such luck: just one boss, and even with a one-in-a-million chance, he got it.
Apparently, he landed the final blow. If the boss hadn’t lowered its defense when enraged, he’d never have dealt enough damage to finish it.
“What’s so funny? Is a mere 10,000 Blue Coins compensation that hilarious?” Thousand Mile Lone Rider grumbled.
Wind and Cloud Under Heaven and Wind Chimes in the Breeze looked at him oddly.
Zhang Shan felt a little awkward but didn’t explain—he just posted his new skill in the chat.
When the others saw Zhang Shan’s skill, they were stunned.
“How did you get the boss’s skill? I didn’t see that skill book drop,” Wind and Cloud Secretary asked, confused.
“Damn, your luck is unreal. One monster and you trigger your talent? No way…” Thousand Mile Lone Rider was incredulous.
Thousand Mile Lone Rider and Wind Chimes in the Breeze were dumbfounded, while Wind and Cloud Under Heaven and Wind and Cloud Secretary were simply at a loss—they didn’t yet know about Zhang Shan’s King of Passives talent.
Wind Chimes in the Breeze explained, “Six-Barrel Bodhisattva has a very OP talent: he can randomly acquire a monster’s passive skill upon killing it. I just didn’t think it would work on a boss! Incredible.”
Wind and Cloud Under Heaven: “That’s impossible. How can anyone have a talent like that?”
Wind and Cloud Secretary: “That’s basically cheating. Who could fight you in late game?”
“It’s not that overpowered. The odds are tiny—I farmed rabbits all day and never got anything. It’s a one-in-a-million chance, like winning the lottery,” Zhang Shan clarified.
“A one-in-a-million chance isn’t actually that low. If you set your sights on a passive, you’ll get it eventually,” Wind and Cloud Under Heaven still found it hard to believe.
“Damn, I thought my axe was amazing—especially that Heavy Strike effect. Now it feels lackluster. Equipment, no matter how good, gets replaced, but you just get the skill outright. It’s so unfair!” Thousand Mile Lone Rider was jealous.
“By the way, does it use up a skill point?” Wind Chimes in the Breeze asked.
Zhang Shan checked: he had two skill points left, one from leveling up and one from the boss first-kill reward.
“No, it didn’t use a skill point. I still have both.”
“God-tier talent.”
Everyone was at a loss for words, left only with envy and jealousy.
“Let’s distribute the loot, then log off for lunch. Perfect timing,” said Wind Chimes in the Breeze.
The shield and bow went to Wind and Cloud Secretary, who smiled from ear to ear after equipping his new shield.
The robe went to Wind and Cloud Under Heaven, and the boots to Zhang Shan.
Wind and Cloud Under Heaven said, “I’ll have Secretary transfer the money to you. Send him the video quickly so he can post it on the forum.”
“That boss was really tough—over 500 attack, 20,000 HP. I wonder if anyone else in the other newbie villages has found it?” Thousand Mile Lone Rider mused.
“There are Boar Kings in other villages too. While we were fighting, I checked—lots of people have found it and tried, but no one survived a single hit. Even just a basic attack from the boss is fatal. We just got lucky,” Wind and Cloud Secretary replied, clearly delighted.
“Log off, time for lunch. Eat on time, be happy! See you in an hour,” Wind Chimes in the Breeze said, logging off after distributing the loot.
The others followed suit.
Zhang Shan allocated his skill points—both into Headshot, one from leveling up and one from the boss first-kill reward. He put on the Elven Leather Boots, ran a few steps, and immediately felt the difference in speed. Wearing boots compared to being barefoot was a world apart. Now he could solo monsters, hit and run, kite them around, though it would be a bit slower.
He checked his attributes:
Character: Six-Barrel Bodhisattva
Class: Hunter
Level: 5
HP: 180
MP: 80
Physical Attack: 50-57
Magical Attack: 13
Strength: 13
Agility: 44
Intelligence: 13
Defense: 10
Luck: 9 (randomly generated between 1-10, hidden stat, unchangeable)
Talent: King of Passives (Killing monsters grants a random chance to acquire one of their passive skills; chance: one in a million)
Skill 1, Headshot (Passive), Level 5: Each hunter attack has a chance to trigger Headshot, dealing 50 extra damage and stunning for 0.05 seconds. Trigger chance: 2.5%.
Skill 2, Heavy Strike (Passive), Level 1 (talent-acquired, cannot be upgraded): Each attack has a chance to trigger Heavy Strike, dealing five times damage. Trigger chance: 1%.
Equipment: Newbie Robe, Newbie Musket, Elven Leather Boots, Black Iron Ring.